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sjkted · 11-21-2010, 01:03 AM

Hi All,

This week I attempted to use the '91 Fleetwood Southwind 36-ft class A to move to a new house in lieu of a U-Haul truck. I am moving up to the Lake Arrowhead area.

The coach has 104K miles on it and despite numerous "RV" problems, it has always been very mechanically sound and well maintained by us and the previous owner. We have also taken it up to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear a few times without problems.

So, this time it got up the mountain and we turn off the highway onto a residential street and attempt to make it on our street. The RV is packed up to the gills with boxes and the street has a very high incline. It is also a tight turn, so I can't get much speed on it prior to climbing the hill. It got up about 30 feet and refused to move any more. I tried a few times with picking up as much speed as I could, but it wouldn't budge forward.

This was yesterday in the middle of a pretty ugly wind and rain/hail storm, so I opted to park it and am planning to get a U-haul on Monday to move the rest of the large items.

Has anyone had this happen before? Have I just run out of torque or could there be something else? Despite the rain, I don't think the back wheels were spinning. While going up the mountain, it has always been able to reach posted speeds, although the acceleration leaves much to be desired -- although I don't think it's much slower than other class As.

Any suggestions?

--sjkted

Elkhartjim · 11-21-2010, 06:47 AM

Just a guess, but if you're truly loaded to the gills maybe you have far exceeded the GVWR.

Eagle123 · 11-21-2010, 07:41 AM

Is it gas or diesel? If diesel, I had lost power when the turbo install clamp failed and lost turbo boost. If has, gas, it could be plugs or wires causing a one cylinder not to fire. Goodluck with your move.

sjkted · 11-21-2010, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elkhartjim

Just a guess, but if you're truly loaded to the gills maybe you have far exceeded the GVWR.

That's a possibility. I have it parked right now and am going to unload a bunch of the boxes into my car in several trips and try again Tuesday or Wednesday as the rain and snow should be gone.

--sjkted

sjkted · 11-21-2010, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sucker

Is it gas or diesel? If diesel, I had lost power when the turbo install clamp failed and lost turbo boost. If has, gas, it could be plugs or wires causing a one cylinder not to fire. Goodluck with your move.

It's a gasser with a Chevy V8 454 engine.

--sjkted

sjkted · 11-26-2010, 01:40 PM

Well, after being here for a few days, I got a partial answer from a few neighbors: of course, you'll never get that thing up here. Apparently, when it rains or snows it is nearly impossible for non-4WD or AWD vehicles to come up the front. Even the people who are driving 4WD/AWD seem to avoid it. The hill as an opposite side that is much easier to go up and then drive down the road, so that seems to be the solution.

--sjkted

Gary RVRoamer · 11-26-2010, 06:44 PM

Rain or snow could make it slippery, but you said the wheels were not spinning? I'd be more inclined to suspect you have a clogged fuel filter and the engine simply couldn't get enough fuel to move the vehicle up the slope. Or, the spark plug wires were shorting out, with the same result. You said it was windy & rainy, right? A lot of moisture can cause a loss of spark from the wires.